Sometimes Experiments Aren't Needed
by Vampiresswolf
Summary: Somewhat AU (they are still trying to save the world, but they have all their powers and such, and there are still Schools). Max and Fang get abducted and Iggy and Dylan must lead the younger three to save them. But when the scientists find that their great experiment doesn't need to be done, what will happen? (warning: pregnancy)
1. Prologue

Title: _Sometimes Experiments Aren't Needed_

_Prologue_

"Subjects 1 and 2 are right where you planned, sir. Commencing abduction."

"Good." Came through the receiver, "Just make sure it happens before they return to their flock."

"Of course." The agent clicked the end button and waved the others forward.

He watched as they circled out. The subjects were sitting in a tree, just like the boss had anticipated, looking up at the stars. Completely oblivious.

"Wait until they open their wings," He ordered, "But not before they get airborne."

His agents nodded and shouldered their guns. Subject one sighed, and stood, and he nodded.

As subject two joined her, he motioned the others to lean forward, "Subject one first. Subject two is more likely to stay, and be quiet."

As Subject One opened her wings, a soft whistle slipped through the evening, and a dart hit its target, right where the wing met the body. She fell from the sky, and just as planned, Subject two slipped down after her to see what was wrong. As he opened his own wings, preparing to take her away, a second dart slipped in, burying itself in his back, and he slumped as well.

"Good. Move out. Get them in the crates. Boss wants them as soon as possible." He slipped out with the rest of his crew, reading the helicopter.

"Hey, Gazzy?"

"Yeah?" Gazzy looked up at his sister, placing the wires he was playing with down on the table.

"It's been a while since Fang and Max left, and I want to go check on them. Wanna come?"

He shrugged, "They're always out late, but sure, whatever." He stood and shook out his wings, following her out the door, "Um. What's that?" He asked, pointing into the distance, where a dark shadow was raising from the forest.

"That's a helicopter." She frowned, "Go get the others, I'll be right back!" She leaped into the air as he turned back to get the others.

Angel darted forward, landing in the field where she knew that Fang and Max had gone, and frowned. The ground was trampled, and the two were gone. She looked around and saw large footprints that should not have been there. When she turned back to the center of the field, she saw a hard glimmer by the edge, under the largest tree. She darted forward, and then gasped. It was a dart's shell.


	2. Chapter 1

Title: _Sometimes Experiments Aren't Needed_

Ch. 1

_With Max, in a Cell_

I rubbed my arms and sighed, leaning back on the hard surface of the half-crate. I say half because though there was definitely a crate-y feel to the whole place, it wasn't really a true crate. That is to say, I was being held in a dark, steel-reinforced cement room, no windows, no nothing. But in front of me was a large crate-like barred gate of sorts. Beyond the bars, there was a second set of reinforced bars, with a space just large enough to hold a body between them. This second set of bars had a crate-like door. Small, slightly off the ground, but reinforced. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was a prison door set beyond that, like the grade you would find in a penitentiary or asylum, if not worse. And if that wasn't enough security for you, it was completely soundproof. As in, no sound came in, no sound went out. And, as I had found out the first day I was here, both sets of gates were electrified.

I leaned back, humming to myself to keep the absolute silence at bay, when I heard the familiar _snick_ of the door sliding open, and then a bundled up body was tossed into the space between the bars. Once the outside was secured, the gate and door sealed, the second fencing began to raise. I padded forward, and once it was high enough, I drug the boy inside.

"Come on now, Fang. Time to wake up. We have yet to find a way out of this." I muttered, slapping his unconscious face. But after two weeks in here, I was used to this. We saw each other, sure. But only when we were dragging each other's bodies back into the main section, or when we ate.

Right on cue, the gas entered the chamber, and I felt myself getting drowsy. Once, I had tried to outlast the gas, holding my breath against it, but even with my longer endurance, I hadn't been able to pass it. I fainted and went unconscious and then they had dragged me out of the chamber.

Fang and I had spoken once during our feeding schedule about leaving messages hidden for each other, for ideas. But the only thing we had to write with was our own blood, and as soon as he had tried that, the gas had returned, and when he woke up, his finger was patched and the message was washed away. They were nothing if not determined to keep us here.

I sighed as the gas made my world go black once again.

_In the Scientists' lounge_

"What have you found on them? This experiment must be conducted as soon as is possible."

"The samples we collected the first day have been incubated. The cells are ready for implantation, and the others are bringing Subject 1 in for the procedure."

"What about the survellience?"

"Nothing so far, Sir. We have found no evidence that the other subjects have managed to locate them."

"Good. And the other tests?"

Before his minion could answer, the door opened, and a young scientist in scrubs walked in, "Sir, we implanted the fetus. However…"

"What is it, Marcia?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well- she already had a fetus in her. It appears to be about three weeks in development."

He frowned, "How did you not see this when you took the haploid?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, you see, sir. It was not visible at that time. What would you like for us to do?"

"Replace the subject back into the cell. Feed them, and then bring your team here."

"Yes, Sir." She bowed her head and backed out of the room.

_With the Flock_

Angel gasped, looking over at the others, crouched in a dune out of the way of the lab they were staking out. It had taken them time to find it, and then they had to get past some serious security to even get this close. That was before they knew whether they were even in there or not.

"What is it?" Iggy asked, "Are they in there? Can you sense them?"

"Yes and no." Angel replied, to which she got some very confused looks from the four flock members surrounding her, so she rolled her eyes and continued, "Yes, they are in there. No. I can't sense them. For some reason they're blocked out. Oh! There's Fang…" She frowned, "I can tell he's awake, but I can't tell what he's thinking, or where he is."

"What was the gasp for?" Dylan asked, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He was by far the most upset about this whole thing. Not only was Max in there, so was the boy she had chosen over him, and he had to help get them back.

Angel frowned, "The experiment that they are doing to them, that's all." She whispered.

"What experiment?"

"I can't say. I think Max and Fang need to know first, to get used to it…."

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes, "Fine then. How will we get them out?"

"I'm working on the layout. Give me a minute…" Angel scrunched up her face and then nodded, "Okay. I've got it. But it's gonna be tricky. They have more security than I have ever seen before! They really don't want them to escape."

"Security has never stopped us for long, have at it." Nudge piped up, ready to go.

_With Fang, in the Cell_

Fange groaned and opened his eyes, peering for a minute at the ceiling, vision blurry. He closed them again and took inventory of his body. That terrible itching in his lower half had finally stopped, but there were plenty of other pains to account for.

He sighed and opened his eyes once again, and the dinky gray of the cell came into focus. With a grunt, he lifted himself, looking around, and then sighed. Once, just this once, he'd like a chance to actually talk to someone. The silence, so thick you could hear your own heartbeat thumping back at you, drove him berserk. He shuffled back to the side wall, near to the gate, but not near enough to actually get shocked, he waited until the door opened and Max was dumped.

As soon as the fence lifted, he picked her up and padded to the back of the room. As was customary, he began to check her for injuries. Not that he'd actually be able to do anything about them. Or even tell her about them before he was put out.

He sucked in a breath at the incision on her lower stomach, where her gown rode up some. It wasn't as large as a normal scar would be, only a few centimeters, which is why it drew his attention. A look at her stomach would surely have a larger cut, right? He had no time to wonder, as the door opened once again, and he stiffened, sliding around in front of her. His first thought was one of worry, had they caught another flock member? Then he shook his head as two platters were placed in the space and then the doors were sealed. He stood up, somewhat shaky, and waited for the fence to raise before he slid forward, snatched the platters, and scooted back toward Max.

He opened his platter to see what they got to eat today, and then sighed. He missed Iggy's cooking, even a roasted rat would be more delectable than what was here in front of him. A few moldy slices of bread, some hardened cheese, and an eight-ounce glass of water. As was customary for him, he took the cheese and lifted the lid to Max's food, placing it there. He was always the one awake when food came, and he was usually on his way to being done by the time she woke, so it wasn't too hard to sneak the extra food for her.

"Food's here." He murmured quietly when he heard her moan painfully and quietly, waking up.


	3. Chapter 2

Title: _Sometimes Experiments Aren't Needed_

Ch. 2

_With Fang and Max_

I groaned, blinking open my eyes, the ceiling coming into focus. I realized my head was resting on something soft and frowned. Since when did we have pillows? Let alone big, warm pillows? Oh. Right. I looked up into Fang's exhausted face as he nibbled slowly on a piece of bread.

"When we get out of here, we'll never see you rabbit-eating again, will we?" I muttered under my breath. We didn't talk extremely much, and never in more than a ventriloquist's whisper, because as soon as the whitecoats thought we were speaking, the gas returned, and our lunch disappeared.

"Don't plan on it." He replied, his mouth covered by the bread he had against it. I could just barely glimpse the ghost smirk he flashed before he took what looked to be a big bite, but was actually just another little bit.

"What if whoever is left leaves the other in the middle? Then when we wake, we can bust out that second set?" I wondered.

"Won't work. I tried with you once, but they just dragged you back in here." He sounded dejected.

I sighed. We had tried everything, and nothing had worked. They were just too good this time.

"I would rather get out before the rest of the flock is captured trying to save us." I growled, biting into a chunk of ancient cheese.

"I know." He said, frowning. But the sad truth was, that was highly unlikely to happen. We had tried to use the platter to short circuit the inside fence and then bust out, but the platter was plastic, it only looked metal, and had melted while giving us a nasty stench and shock. We had attempted to bust the doors, live through the pain, wake each other up, bust down the walls, but nothing worked.

For all we knew, they had the flock. There was no windows in the cell, and no way to judge time passing, but from the assumption that they fed us on a regular schedule, twice a day like they did the other times we were here, we had been here for weeks. There had been no rescue. Not that we would have heard one if there was. I sighed, swallowing my last sliver of bread, and waiting for the gas to come, as it would here soon.

Sure enough, the invisible gas came through. We knew it was only because of the sound it made as it hissed through the walls. We weren't entirely sure where the gas came from. It being so quiet and dark, and the gas' lack of visibility led it to appear to come from every which way.

"Um. I'm not dropping?" Fang asked, looking at me, and I widened my eyes, realizing the sound was coming through, but I wasn't feeling the effects.

Then, a more surprising thing- the gas appeared to be making a noise of sorts.

"Pretend. That's what it sounds like…"

I nodded, and shrugged, "Let's pretend then, I suppose." He gave a barely perceptible nod and then we both closed our eyes and sank to the ground. I kept my eyes open a tiny slit of the way, and watched as the door opened, and the female whitecoat who always brought Fang and I back walked through the door. The inside gate opened, and she slid through the first and over to us. I tensed, ready to slam my arm into her, when I heard a very familiar voice inside my head. Angel's.

**Don't. Not yet, Fang, Max. Stay there, wait until I get you out of this room. The whitecoats are right in the other room, and if you make a commotion, they'll begin attacking. And you're on surveillance. So stay! **I frowned, not sure what to think about that, when I felt the arms pick me up, and drag me into the hallway, passing me off to another pair.

"You can open your eyes now, Max." Dylan's voice was barely a whisper, and I opened my eyes to see into his, then tried to jackknife to my feet, but his hands- currently much stronger than my own- held me still. Instead, I sat up slowly, and watched as the whitecoat drug Fang, still appearing unconscious, out of the door and over to Iggy, who did the same to him.

I tilted my head in confusion at the whitecoat, frowning, and she sealed the chamber, and turned to Fang, "If you can handle it, it would be a good thing to make us invisible. There is a man coming, and we need to hurry you out of the building! Fast!"

I had no time to wonder what was happening, because the arms around me tightened, and I had no strength left to fight them. Dylan stood, and when I looked over I saw Fang's mutinous look. I wasn't sure if it was because Dylan had me, or because Iggy had him and he couldn't get loose either, but I had no time to worry because we were suddenly dashing down the hallway. I hadn't seen the building before, but now I realized that the only really complicated part about it was the security on our cells. Otherwise, it looked like a normal doctor's office or conference hall.

"Oh, the security outside is pretty intense too, Max." I heard a voice say, and I looked over to see Angel, running alongside us, and frowned. Where had she come from? Behind us I could hear Nudge and Total, and Angel moved to run in front of us with Gazzy. I heard a shout behind us as the scientists realized what was happening, and my heart sped up, adrenaline rushing through my veins, even though my muscles wouldn't be able to keep up.

_In the Conference Room_

The boss frowned, looking at the data collected on the two mutant bird hybrids as his colleagues argued back and forth about what should be done. He sighed, rubbing his temples in circles.

"We should terminate both and start over! There is no way to tell the difference, now that you inserted the new one!"

"There is a way, I knew where the old one was, and it's in a slightly later development than the one we created!"

He sighed as the buzzer on the table rang, and a rushed voice spoke, "Sir, why did Doctor Samsung bring both of the Subjects out of the cell? Neither are stated for procedures for another half an hour."

He looked up, into the shocked eyes of the young female doctor who sat in front of him, "Well?" He asked.

"I-I haven't been out of this room, Sir!" She said, eyes scared.

The doctor beside her nodded his head, "She is telling the truth, Sir. I have been talking with her this whole time…"

"P-perhaps…" another scientist hesitated, and he looked over at him sharply, the man gulped and nodded, "Well. We haven't seen anything of the other subjects, the other bird hybrids… Perhaps?"

He growled and stood, slamming his hand down on the desk, "Send the reinforcements. It seems there has been a break in our security!"

"Yes, Sir!" came the reply from the security room. He shook his head. Incompetents, all of them. The highest security measures, and still the insolent things manage to escape. Worse than roaches, they were.

As he walked out of the conference room with his panel following, he saw the forces rushing past. However, once he left the building, he saw only his troops, rifles toward the sky, and seven dots racing away. "We must get them back. I want them." He growled, eyes narrowed.


	4. Chapter 3

Title: _Sometimes Experiments Aren't Needed_

**A/N: **Hey guys, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for reading this! I do plan on this fic having upwards of around 50-100 chapters, and then there will be a sequel once this is over. I realize this fic may be a little cliche, but I have always wanted to write it, but just recently have felt comfortable enough in it's plot to begin it. On that note, I have about 7 or 8 fics I am working on, in multiple fanbases, and so even though MR was my first, and is still one of my favorites, I do prefer to upload to all of them instead of just one, plus I have a ton of things to do in my real life, not including my novels and my undergrad duties and preparation for MCAT, as well as work, so I want to let you all know that even though uploading may take some time, it will always be updated. Once Summer II comes around (about july) the speed will pick up exponentially, but until then, it may be a bit slow.

Also, as I forgot one of these: **Disclaimer:**I do not have the pleasure of owning Max Ride or any of the series' tidbits. I only own my plotline and a couple characters that won't be introduced for a while yet.

Alrighty, on to your chappie! As always, please R&amp;R, as it makes my heart soar and my writing improve when I get feedback, and though it is not necessary for me to continue this story, they have been known to pause my everyday life to write a chappie. 

Ch. 3

I opened my eyes to a bright light- right in my face. I groaned and swung my hand up to my face, wondering when the heck I'd been allowed to wake up during an operation before. But I'd take this opportunity, and then I'd go from there, break Fang out of the cell, and blow this joint.

However, the sound I heard when I karate-chopped to the side was not what I was expecting. The loud 'oof' and proceeding, "Damn, Max, what was that? We're only checking your vitals, you know."

I turned my head and blinked, registering what was going on. The bright light was a penlight flashlight, held by none other than Iggy, whom was the one I had hit. His irritated face matched his words, and when I turned the other way, I saw my mother. Beyond her, which is where my eyes rested, was a still-unconscious Fang. I rubbed my head, frowning, and sat up slowly.

"How long was I out?" I asked, looking from Fang's still form to Iggy and my mother.

"Three days. You both were extremely malnourished, Fang more so than you. And his lack of calcium in his bones is way more concerning than that fact."

I frowned, "He had calcium. Isn't there calcium in cheese?"

Iggy nodded, "Yes. Why?"

"Because we were given two blocks of cheese and three moldy slices of bread for each meal."

My mother frowned, and then turned to look at some sort of chart, "He never ate any cheese. He only has trace amounts of fungus, yeast and rye in his system." She frowned, turning to another form, "However, yours shows a great deal of cheese residues."

I frowned, "But…"

She turned towards me, a flicker of a smile on her face, "If you ask me, they only gave you one block of cheese for those meals."

My eyes widened as I looked back down at Fang, and a warm feeling swelled into my heart, "You idiot." I muttered.

My mother chuckled, and then came over, "In other news, you are all ready to continue whatever it was you were doing before this ordeal started. Fang, however, will need to stay here for a while longer. As I said, he was greatly malnourished, and the lack of calcium will cause some pretty severe problems all on their own. We will have to make sure he is okay before he gets a clean bill of health."

I nodded, and then frowned, "Okay." My stomach rumbled an I looked down at it with a sheepish smile, "So. Uh, is there any food around here?" I asked.

Iggy laughed, "Will be in about ten minutes, if you can wait that long." He padded out the door to the room and I could hear his footsteps as he headed down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked, looking around, realizing that I couldn't hear normal flock activity.

"They're in the kitchen, watching a Disney movie. I have had the hardest time keeping them from your room." She laughed at my expression, and then waved her hand at the door, "Go on, I'm sure they'll be glad to see that you are awake."

I nodded, flicked one last look over to Fang, and then slipped out the door. As I padded down the stairs with a frown as I heard the familiar lyrics of 'Be Our Guest'. The tune filtered through the den's entranceway, and as I stopped there, looking at the television, I smiled. For there, on the screen, was the familiar candelabra and dancing plates.

"Wouldn't it be so cool if _our _plates could dance? Or our chairs could just whisk us away to dinner? Oh! What if our covers could just swing into here and snuggle around us? I'm kinda cold-" I couldn't help smiling as Nudge's imagination ran wild.

"Can't you just be quiet for once? I'm _trying_ to watch." Gazzy complained.

As I padded into the room, Angel looked up, a grin on her face, "Oh! Max's awake!"

I laughed as _Beauty and the Beast _was forgotten in favor of the three of them, plus Total, climbing to their feet in excitement and bounding over to me, hugging me tightly, and I smiled.

"Food's ready!" was heard coming from the kitchen a short time later, and with a grumble in my stomach, I followed the voice.

Iggy had made a full feast, complete with three kinds of meat, pastas, veggies, and all sorts of other things. My eyes lightened in excitement, but then I frowned when I saw that he had made only eight plates, plus Total's. He passed them out, and then looked over at me, "Would you mind bringing this one to Dr. Martinez?" he asked, handing me the least-full plate. I frowned.

"Where's Fang's?"

Iggy looked at me incredulously, "He's unconscious. He can't eat. He's got an IV."

"Oh. Right." I said, feeling slightly dumb for not thinking about that. I grabbed the plate, and then my own, and padded up the stairs and into the room.

If he had been giving me his food, I was plan on eating there, to force some of it down his throat the minute he awoke.

"Here." I said, handing her the smaller plate, and she nodded, thanking me, as we sat down on either side of the bed that Fang was on. I began to dig in when my mom shook her head.

"Eat slowly, so that your body can get used to solid foods in quantity. We don't want you puking all over the place." I frowned, but then nodded, slowing the pace.

-o-

Once we had finished- I hadn't been able to finish my full plate, as much as that surprised me- the flock joined me in Fang's room. We all sat on and around the bed I had been on, when I looked over at them.

"So. How did you manage that escape, anyway? And what happened to that whitecoat that pulled us out?" I asked.

Angel smiled, looking up at me sweetly, "It wasn't too hard, truthfully. We just had to be a little inventive." When I raised my eyebrow, she broke into a grin, "I can shapeshift, remember? I'd never tried to do it on an actual person, but it was easier than doing it like a fish, even! So that was me. Nudge worked the lock, and Iggy and Total moved the direction of the gas to the main security bank, to knock them out, so we didn't have as many after us. Dylan took guard while Gazzy used his mimicking voice to mimic the sound the gas portrayed as it went into your vent. After that, it was easy!" I widened my eyes in surprise.

As I thought that over, I began to feel queasy, and I sighed. I knew I had eaten too much… I stood and darted out of the room and over to the restroom across the hall. I glimpsed a knowing look that I didn't understand from Angel on the way, but ignored it, figuring I could always ask later.


End file.
